Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) Is Investing Its Capital With Increasing Efficiency
To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Amongst other things, we'll want to see two things; firstly, a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an expansion in the company's amount of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. And in light of that, the trends we're seeing at Cadence Design Systems' (NASDAQ:CDNS) look very promising so lets take a look.
Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it?
If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on Cadence Design Systems is:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.26 = US$893m ÷ (US$4.4b - US$961m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to April 2022).
Therefore, Cadence Design Systems has an ROCE of 26%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 9.3% earned by companies in a similar industry.
See our latest analysis for Cadence Design Systems
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Cadence Design Systems compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
The Trend Of ROCE
The trends we've noticed at Cadence Design Systems are quite reassuring. The numbers show that in the last five years, the returns generated on capital employed have grown considerably to 26%. The company is effectively making more money per dollar of capital used, and it's worth noting that the amount of capital has increased too, by 112%. The increasing returns on a growing amount of capital is common amongst multi-baggers and that's why we're impressed.
The Bottom Line
A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Cadence Design Systems has. Since the stock has returned a staggering 357% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Cadence Design Systems can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.
While Cadence Design Systems looks impressive, no company is worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether CDNS is currently trading for a fair price.
Cadence Design Systems is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
